Lansing, MI – In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis et al on whether forced individual employee arbitration violates the National Labor Relations Act, President Ron Bieber from the Michigan AFL-CIO released the following statement:
“Today in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has paved the way for employers to block access to the courts for thousands of Michigan families whose employers have broken the law or violated their workplace civil rights.
With Trump-nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch casting the deciding vote, the Supreme Court broke with over eighty years of labor law and sided with corporate special interests, allowing employers to force employees to sign exploitative individual arbitration waivers as a condition of employment. That’s a spineless, backdoor way to repeal laws on the books: wage laws, anti-discrimination laws and others – these protections are of little use if workers can’t enforce them.
In Michigan, we know how critical it is for individuals to be able to voice their concerns together – and how harmful forced arbitration can be to women fighting sexual harassment and assault. Nobody, should have to sign away their civil rights just to have a job.
Today’s ruling continues a series of harmful rulings from the Roberts Court that erode workers’ rights and freedoms.”
###
